Exeter, D.J., Boyle, P., Feng, Z., Flowerdew, R. & Schierloh, N. (2005) Population Trends, 119(Spring 2005), 28-36. Office for National Statistics. [SLS]

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...[A] number of methods exist that enable two or more geographies to be combined into a common geography. Most approaches use an areal interpolation process that involves the proportional redistribution of information from the source geographies to the target geography, based on a pre-defined weighting scheme. Necessarily, however, these techniques introduce error, which varies depending on the procedure that is used.

Here we present an alternative approach, which uses 1981 EDs in Scotland as the base geography from which ‘Consistent Areas Through Timeʼ (CATTs) can be derived. It is possible to extract small area census data outputs from 1981, 1991 and 2001 for these areas without the need for areal interpolation methods. The method presented here is only possible because the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) has endeavoured to maintain comparability between census areas since 1981. For the first time in Scotland, therefore, CATTs are available which allow for the reliable analysis of changing demographic, social and economic circumstances at the local level. ...

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